


Shklance Week Fills

by TeaAndKittens



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, Fluffy Porn, M/M, Movie Night, Snow Day, and porn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 05:15:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8831833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaAndKittens/pseuds/TeaAndKittens
Summary: A collection of all the stuff I did for various Shklance week prompts.





	1. Finally Home

**Author's Note:**

> I've already posted one fill separately, but decided to put all of the rest up together. Unfortunately I couldn't get all the things I started finished in time for the event, but I will eventually add them here. Tags may be added as necessary. I will add summary and any warnings needed at the beginning of every "chapter"
> 
> Ch 1 Summary: 
> 
> Lance knew he'd be too distracted to study for finals if he spent every night with Shiro and Keith, so he's spent the last three weeks in a self-imposed exile. But finals are over now and he's more than ready to reunite with them after so much time away

Exhaustion weighed Lance down and every step felt like it took a couple hours.  His head pounded with too much caffeine and too little sleep and his eyes felt tired and dry enough to crack and bleed.  He should have just gone back to his dorm.  It was after midnight and his room was closer, but he’d just finished his last final, meaning he could end his self-imposed exile and all he wanted in the world was to crawl into bed between his two boyfriends and breathe them in.  And maybe sleep for three fucking weeks - fuck he was tired.

Shiro’s apartment was dark and silent when he let himself in, but Lance knew this place better than he knew his own dorm room at this point.  He didn’t need any lights to make it down the hallway to the promised land.  He stopped just inside the doorway, barely daring to breathe.  Being inside this room again after three weeks away felt almost like a dream to his fevered brain.  He staggered forward on weak legs,  _ aching  _ to be closer.

There was enough moonlight streaming through the windows for Lance to make out the shape of their bodies.  Shiro was on his back, prosthetic arm up over his head, other one curled loosely around Keith’s waist, and his mouth hanging open to let out soft snores.  Keith was draped over Shiro’s chest, face mashed awkwardly in Shiro’s armpit, and the blanket pulled up under his chin.  Lance stared at them desperately and a wave of longing hit him like a hammer to the head.  They were so fucking perfect.  He sighed, something heavy and tinged with regret, there was no way he could disturb them.  As much as he didn’t want to sleep alone again, he was resigned to sleeping on the couch tonight.  He took a step backward.

Without opening his eyes, Shiro grunted.  “Don’t you dare.”  He rolled and started carefully disentangling himself from Keith.  “Get in this bed right now.”  He fixed Lance with a pleading stare.  “We missed you.”

Lance froze, regret blooming unpleasantly in his mind.  He’d known he was going to miss them when he’d decided to spend three weeks without them so he could focus on his classes, but it had never occurred to him that they would suffer in his absence too.

Keith whined soft and plaintive at being disturbed.  “No,” he mumbled out petulantly and tried to curl back into Shiro’s side.

Finally opening his eyes, Shiro laughed soft and fond down at him and stroked the mess of Keith’s bangs out of his eyes.  “Look who’s here.”

Keith whined again, but he followed directions anyway.  When he noticed Lance standing by the bed his lips curled into a sweet smile and he breathed out, “you’re home,” making impatient grabby hands in Lance’s general direction.  

Lance laughed and wobbled forward to collapse onto the bed fully clothed.  He curled in between them and was already half asleep by the time Keith managed to get his lips close enough to Lance’s mouth for a kiss.


	2. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's their weekly movie night and Keith and Lance are competing to see who can get Shiro's attention first.

 

There was absolutely no way Lance was going to lose tonight.  The key to such a delicate offensive was subtlety, and he knew that meant Keith thought he had it in the bag, but the truth was Lance could be subtle when he needed to be.  And Keith wasn’t exactly Mr. Understated either.  Lance had this.  He wiggled closer to Shiro on the couch, pressing into his side.

On Shiro’s other side, Keith winked at Lance and let the hand he had on Shiro’s thigh drift a little higher.  The flickering light from the tv made his skin ethereal and his eyes bright.

Between them, Shiro’s attention on the movie never faltered.  He did however shift his arm to settle Lance’s added weight more evenly against him and spread his legs slightly to allow Keith’s hand to slide higher - unconscious movements to accommodate their needs and wants even when he wasn’t paying attention.

Not to be outdone - this was a competition after all - Lance rolled his eyes at Keith and tilted his head to rest on Shiro’s shoulder.  He nuzzled against him like he was searching for a comfortable position when he was actually trying to adjust so that his lips were right next to Shiro’s collar bone.  Every time he exhaled his breath would blow tantalizingly across a spot that was unusually sensitive for Shiro.  He smirked over at Keith.   _ See, this was how subtlety was done. _

Keith scowled, definitely recognizing Lance’s strong move, but he remained undeterred.  He reached up to scratch his chest, “accidentally” brushing against one of his nipples which were likely still sore and raw from the way Lance and Shiro had attacked them last night.  Keith hissed softly at the touch.

Shiro didn’t react to the sound at all.  He was grinning softly at whatever scene was happening in the movie.

Lance didn’t even know what they were watching.  His attention flickered to the screen long enough to identify a boy and a girl and some awkward shuffling -  _ ah a confession scene then _ \- Shiro loved those.  It was mildly frustrating, but Lance decided to use it to his advantage.  He shifted the hand he had on Shiro’s hip so that the tips of two fingers barely slid beneath the waist of his pants.  Take that Keith.

Keith’s nostrils flared slightly.  His gaze darted up to Shiro’s face briefly to check his expression before he refocused on the expanse of denim stretched over Shiro’s  _ ridiculous  _ thighs.  He let his hand slip a little higher.

More determined than ever, Lance opened his mouth slightly and let the puffs of air feathering over Shiro’s skin become hotter and humid.  Had he not been looking at Shiro’s lap, he never would noticed the slight twitch the bulge there gave.  He was about to crow with victory when Shiro abruptly dropped all pretense of watching the movie.

Shiro tightened the arm he had around each one of them and laughed, filthy and a little mean.  “Nope.  I clocked you both six moves ago.  Lance, you’re getting better, smoother and smarter about what to exploit, but it’s not quite natural yet.”  He smirked down at Lance.

Lance’s face burned with humiliation while his dick chubbed up in his pants.  Fuck he loved everything about movie nights with his boyfriends.

Shiro turned his penetrating stare to Keith.  “Nice thought with the nipple, you know I love it when you’re sore, but the hand on the thigh was so obvious it should have come with flashing lights and a siren.”

Keith sighed, sounding angry, but the way he squirmed suggested he was similarly affected by Shiro’s evaluations.

Shiro laughed.  “I win.  Again.”  In the almost six months they’d been playing this game, picking a one random movie night a month to try to surprise Shiro, they hadn’t managed to get Shiro aroused without him noticing the attempt a single time.  “What do I win?”

The soft glow of the tv highlighted the blush on Keith’s cheeks.  “I’ll ask you for permission before jerking off for the next month.”

Shiro hummed happily.  “Nice, thank you Keith.”

“You’re welcome,” Keith mumbled bashfully, although he was clearly delighted with the praise.

Shiro turned to look at Lance.  “And you?”

As much as he tried, Lance couldn’t hold eye contact when he fumbled out, “I’ll wear the red panties, the ones with the ruffles you like so much, to class tomorrow.”

Apparently quite satisfied with that, Shiro sighed and relaxed even further into the couch.  “Perfect.  My prizes get better and better every month.”  He grinned devilishly.  “I love movie nights.”


	3. Lessons In Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High School AU
> 
> Keith and Lance are attempting to woo Shiro with a night of wii sports gaming and smooth lines. Shiro schools them in the art of flirting instead.

“Snacks?” Lance questioned solemnly, holding up a finger.

“Check.” Keith confirmed.

Lance held up another finger.  “Drinks?”  

“Check.”

“Remotes charged?”

Keith nodded.  “Check.”

Lance scrunched up his nose in thought.  “Did we miss anything?”  It wasn’t like there was much to this anyway.  The rules at an all-boys boarding school made it hard to have much to work with when trying to create an atmosphere, but they were trying.  Shiro deserved their best.  They were just lucky to have found out about the guy’s unholy love for wii sports and that Lance happened to be the only guy on campus in possession of both a copy of the game and a console to play it on.  Otherwise he didn’t know how two gangly and kinda dumb freshman would have gotten the attention of the senior rugby captain.

Looking confident and stupidly sexy, Keith crossed his arms over his chest.  “Nope.”  

Not having nearly as much of his shit together, Lance fidgeted awkwardly for a moment before smoothing a hand over his shirt.  Another area of attempted seduction life at a boarding school left a guy woefully under equipped for was the wardrobe.  When he’d left this summer for his first year he hadn’t packed much other than the school’s uniform not anticipating the need to romance not one but  _ two  _ of his fellow students.  He thought he’d done the best he could with his available options though - the tightest pair of jeans he owned in a dark wash and a blue polo that Hunk assured him had a cut that flattered him and brought out his eyes.  It just felt a bit obvious.  “Does this look like I’m trying too hard?”  

“No,” Keith answered a touch too quickly.

A tentative smile bloomed on Lance’s face.  “Really?”  

Keith’s gaze skittered away from Lance’s.  “Yeah, you uh, you look good.”

Lance swallowed convulsively.  His face felt too hot and an excited heat began to build in his belly.  He and Keith had finally admitted to liking each other, but it was still new, and they hadn’t  _ done anything  _ yet in fact they were moving at a practically glacial pace.  Admitting their attraction out loud was still an awkward affair.  “Thanks.  You too.”

“Thanks.”  The tips of Keith’s ears were red and he still refused to look at Lance.  “Ready for this?”

Getting his head back in the game, Lance shot him a cocky smirk.  “I was born ready, babe.”  He resisted the urge to punctuate the statement with finger guns.

Determination etched in every line of his body, Keith nodded.  “Me too.  Let’s do it then.”

***

They were not ready.  Dear god were they not ready.

Lance opened the door after Shiro’s knock to find the senior boy on the other side of the door in an  _ indecently  _ tight white T-shirt, almost transparent in some places from sweat, and a pair of loose gym shorts barely clinging to his hips.  They’d slipped low enough to reveal a strip of skin below the hem of the shirt, low enough Lance thought he could see the shadow of where pubic hair started, low enough to reveal the V of muscle at his hips sharp enough that Lance wanted to try cutting his tongue on them - he’d be okay with being mute if it meant getting his mouth on that body.  Lance’s gaze stuck on that peek of skin like it was magnetized.  He was still sweaty and flushed from practice and he smelled like fresh grass and male  _ heat _ .  Lance didn’t think it was possible to be ready for that.

More than likely noticing where Lance’s attention was straying, (how could he not; obvious much?) Shiro blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.  “Sorry, practice ran late today.  I didn’t have time to get to my room and change,” he explained sheepishly.

“It’s fine!” Keith shouted at the same time Lance blurted, “we really don’t mind!”  And there went all their chill, out the fucking window,  Bye Bye Chill, it was nice pretending to be acquainted.  Chill also took its friend Their Plan with it on its suicide dive.  It looked like pretending to be suave and charming guys and winning Shiro over with a combination of superior flirting and flawless gaming was off the table.  They’d just go with plan B then - another night pining and being awkward and oozing sexual tension in Shiro’s direction and hoping he noticed.  At least they’d gotten really good at that through repetition.

Visibly amused, Shiro raised an eyebrow at Lance, who was blocking the doorway.  “So can I come in?”

“Dammit Lance,” Keith hissed, not bothering to pretend he didn’t think Lance was fucking this up already.

Mortified, Lance shuffled inelegantly out of the way.  “Shut the fuck up Keith,” he remembered to lob back several beats to late.  He was still recovering from sweaty half-naked Shiro at the door.  Sue him.

Having the look of someone who was amused despite their best efforts not to be, Shiro shook his head.  “Guys, save the trash talking for the games.”

Keith harrumphed.  “You’re no fun.”

Without thinking about it much, Lance shot Keith a sly grin.  “I dunno, I bet he’s more fun than he looks.”  Heh.  That was a pretty good one.  He might have started off rough, but Lance knew he could get back on track.  He was a stud.

Looking vaguely flustered, Shiro shook off Lance’s words.  “Probably not, I’m nothing special.”

Lance wanted to respond to that, he really fucking did, but so many responses to that welled up, none of them smooth enough to stand out from the pack and all of them so raw they were easily tangled up on the tip of his tongue.  He stood there gaping moronically instead.   _ Shiro  _ thought he was nothing special?  Clearly he did because that was not false modesty.  Was it possible for someone that beautiful, athletic, funny, kind, and devastatingly sexy to somehow be unaware of it?  What kind of weird twilight zone had he fallen into?

A natural lull in the conversation slipped into silence became awkwardness.

Seeming the least ruffled, Shiro wiped a bit of sweat dotted along his upper lip with the back of his hand absently.

It seemed to rally Keith, who finally broke the quiet.  “We would have waited for you, you know.  It wouldn’t have been a big deal if you really wanted to change or shower or whatever.”

Shiro offered him a genuine smile.  “Thanks.  But we gotta make sure we get in as many rounds as we can before curfew, right?”

“Absolutely,” Keith agreed quickly.

Glad to be back on familiar ground, Lance’s answering grin was something just a few shades away from feral.  “Let’s get to it.”

***

Later that evening, Lance took the proffered remote from Shiro with a pout.  “You sure you gotta go already, man?  It’s still like 30 minutes before curfew.”  They’d been having so much fun, Shiro slotting in with them naturally and just  _ working  _ in the way that always left him and Keith aching when he had to go.  Lance wasn’t ready to give him up yet.

The look Shiro favored him with was genuinely apologetic.  “It’s a long walk back to the senior dorms and Iverson caught three or four guys sneaking out last week so he’s been patrolling extra intently.”

“Why are the senior dorms so far?” the question was unmistakably a whine.  Lance regretted nothing.

Shiro smiled at Lance, something with a little more heat rather than his usual gentle warmth lurking at the edges of it.  “Probably because they don’t want any of us close enough to take advantage of any young,  _ impressionable  _ freshman.”

Lance was utterly speechless in the face of that.  Was Shiro actually-  Was he looking at him with-  How much of that was-  Would he ever be capable of finishing a thought again?  Oh, look at that.  Success.

Thank god Shiro wasn’t also smiling so life-alteringly at Keith, because the other boy still had enough brain cells to offer up a decent response.  “I don’t know that very many of us could be described as ‘impressionable.’”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.  I’ve noticed a few times when I’ve managed to make an impression on both of you.”  Shiro practically  _ purred  _ the words at them.  

It was a revelation.  Before that, Lance would have sworn he knew what sexy was, what brain melting arousal felt like.  So wrong, so naive he’d been.  His brain exploded in a supernova of crippling lust and teenage longing.  Answering wasn’t a thing he’d be capable of for a while, probably.  He looked over to Keith for help.  Dumb move.  Keith was just as wrecked as he was.

Playful smirk fixed firmly in place, Shiro continued, ignoring both their gobsmacked expressions.  “Anyway, what’s the big deal?  You guys gonna miss me?”

“Yes,” Lance squeaked out.  Christ, what else could he have possibly said?  

Keith nodded slowly.  “Of course.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow.  “You won’t just keep each other company?”  On its face, that was a pretty innocent question, but there was an insinuation buried somewhere in there that turned it into something leading and kind of filthy.

Lance sucked in a deep breath and tore his attention away from Shiro to look to Keith.  They hadn’t exactly planned on telling him straight out, thinking they’d have to move slower to avoid spooking him.  That possibility was still there, even though he was acting like he was at least attracted to them.  Or maybe he was just messing with them.  That didn’t seem like something Shiro would do, but Lance was so confused and out of his depth here he didn’t know what to do.  And no matter the outcome they’d decided they were in this together.  Lance would let Keith make the final decision about whether they dared to tell Shiro how they felt.

Keith bit his lip and slid his gaze away from them, focusing on the ground between his feet.  “It won’t be the same without you.”  The words were quiet but heartfelt, a naked longing entwined with each syllable. 

“I see.”  A small, cautious smile turned up the corners of Shiro’s mouth.

“Do you?” Keith blurted, clearly not willing to allow for a misunderstanding.

Lance had to hand it Keith; he was definitely braver than Lance could have been.

Not at all put off by Keith’s borderline aggressive directness, Shiro’s smile widened and he looked between both of them with an expression that was soft and fond, and something else that wasn’t quite identifiable.  “I think I’m starting to.  I really do have to go, but uh-”  All of his earlier confidence seemed to have abandoned him and he shuffled his feet nervously.  He still looked quietly pleased though and it was a damned good look on him.  “I’ll miss both of you too.”

“Oh,” Keith whispered, sounding like the word had been ripped out of him.

Lance was hardly more articulate, offering, “that’s um.  That’s good.  To know.”  He winced at his stupidity.  Wow, what the fuck was he even doing with himself?

Appearing truly conflicted, Shiro smiled regretfully at them.  “Bye Lance, bye Keith.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Lance spit out the first thing his shattered mind supplied.  “Okay, we’ll have the wii charged up and ready to go.”

Shiro sighed, exasperated but with a hint of fondness poking through.  “Idiots.  I’m not here for the wii.”  He paused to consider that, frowning.  “Well, mostly.”

That effectively broke the tension and they both waved him out and bid him farewell amid peals of laughter.  As soon as he shut the door behind him, Lance slumped back against it.  “That- that just happened right?” he stuttered out around his disbelief.

Keith nodded, dazed.  “Yeah.”

“That was flirting.  That was definitely flirting.”  He sounded wheedling even to his own ears, like he was trying to convince himself of the truth of that.  Except.  He really didn’t need to.  Lance  _ knew,  _ deep down, that had been flirting.  It was like his brain just refused to accept it.  He’d been the same way for days after Keith had pressed that first kiss to his cheek all those weeks ago.

“Yeah.”  Keith nodded again woodenly.

Lance could feel his limbs starting to tremble; he wasn’t sure if it was excitement or some delayed anxiety and stress response.  It hardly mattered.  Only one thing mattered right now.  “He was talking about what I think he was, right?”

Keith looked up at Lance with wide, lost eyes.  “Yeah.”

Seeing Keith just as ruined and cautiously hopeful as he felt himself, Lance groaned softly.  “Oh god, he broke you.”

Coming back online briefly, Keith scowled.  “Idiot.”

“Shiro thinks we’re both idiots,” he whispered around a smile.

“Yeah,” Keith breathed out, amazed and reverent.  And back to only managing that one word.

Okay, so it looked like Shiro really  _ had  _ broken Keith, but that was alright. Lance got it - his brain was pretty much toasted right now too.  He’d do Keith a solid and wouldn’t call him out on it again.  At least not until morning.


	4. Bad Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preschool Teachers Lance and Keith get into a snowball fight during a break from their classes. Shiro is not amused - neither in his capacity as their principal or their boyfriend. He takes care of their sorry, wet, and cold asses anyway.

Keith knew Lance was going to do it just from watching him move.  Lance had this particular way of slinking that was not at all low key when he was trying to be devious.  It was somehow simultaneously adorable, distressing, and weirdly hot.  Which was pretty much the case with all things Lance, so.

He did his best to avoid the snowball - forewarned is forearmed and all - but Lance still managed to hit Keith squarely in the back.  Damn that man’s aim.  His fingers itched to retaliate, but he hissed, “Lance,” in his harshest Teacher Voice instead.  Adulting responsibly for the win.  He flicked a look over to his class, because twenty or so preschoolers starting a snowball fight ended well for no one, least of all the teachers responsible for explaining their wet and bedraggled state to their parents in the pick-up line.  But they weren't even paying attention to Lance and Keith.

As hoped, every last one of them had congregated around Hunk, their favorite enrichment teacher, who somehow was having no trouble keeping both their classes in line as he pointed out something related to local wildlife in a nearby tree and told them all about it.  The kids adored his wildlife walks and Keith agreed that it was certainly the best way yet he’d tried to do the natural science unit in his classes.

Another snowball hit Keith in the side of the face while he was distracted and he growled and spun on his partner.  “Not a good idea Lance.”

Lance laughed, bright and musical, flushed with cold and excitement.  “Aw c’mon babe, they’ve totally forgotten we exist.  Have fun with me, this is the first snow of the year and I wanna enjoy it while I've got a break from wrangling the munchkins.”

A predatory grin scraped its way across Keith’s lips.  “Just remember that you asked for this,” he warned before advancing.

***

Almost an hour later, the two of them sat in Shiro’s office, heads hanging beneath the weight of his Disappointed Face.  Classes were done, the nature walk having been the last part of the day, and all the kids were finally gone.  And Keith was still soaking wet.  And freezing cold.  Damn Lance and his ability to make Keith forget that bad ideas are not good for a reason.

Shiro sighed and thrust the cup of hot chocolate he’d just finished making into Keith’s hands.  “Share that.”  Once Keith had taken the cup he moved to sit on the edge of his desk in front of where Lance sat.  He held his hands out palm up and wiggled his fingers.  “Hands.”

Still not looking up, Lance put his reddened, chapped hands in Shiro’s.

Cupping his larger, broader hands around Lance’s, Shiro sighed again and began gently rubbing warmth and feeling back into the appendages.  “At least you had the good sense not to let the kids see you.  Although that doesn’t count for much when you went out of your damned minds about everything else.  Honestly, you couldn’t have just stuck to snowballs?  You had to shove it under each other’s clothes too?”

Despite the mood in the room, it was still stupidly endearing to watch him be so gentle and caring with Lance while sounding so frustrated with them.  It did funny things to Keith’s chest, so he curled his hands tighter around the warm mug and lifted it to take a sip.  It was mostly so he had an excuse not to answer Shiro, but he couldn’t help a soft moan at how that one swallow felt like it warmed him all the way to his core.

“Sorry,” Lance whispered, all the while curling his fingers into Shiro’s thorough ministrations.

Not fooled for an instant, Shiro snorted.  “You both always are.  After.”

“We did get a little carried away,” Keith conceded.  He hated admitting he’d fucked up, and he hated being chastised, but Shiro made it easier to deal with, the way he always continued to take care of them even when he was fussing at them.  Keith held the hot chocolate out to offer it to Lance.

Lance shook his head, not willing to give up Shiro’s touch in exchange for the beverage.  “Maybe a bit,” he agreed.

Like alway, that was all Shiro had been looking for - a genuine acknowledgement that they’d done something dumb.  All anger and disappointment faded from him and he smiled.  “Alright.  Let’s get the two of you defrosted enough to get home and then we’ll get out of here so I can warm you up much more  _ efficiently. _ ”

An audible breath puffed out from between Lance’s lips.  “Excellent plan.  I second the motion.”  He smiled up at Shiro exuberantly now that Shiro had forgiven them.   “Can we go play in the snow again when we get home and get into some dry clothes?”

“Seriously?”  Shiro tipped his head back and made a “why me?’ face at the ceiling.

Keith pressed a grin against the rim of his cup.  “A snowman in the front yard after on the first snow day of the year is tradition.”

“I swear, you two are going to be the death of me one day.  It’s not fair when you gang up on me.”  Shiro slid off the edge of his desk.  “Fine.  But nothing inflammatory like last year.  I do not need another passive aggressive war with all our neighbors played out on our front lawn.  I’m the principal of a preschool for fuck’s sake.”

Keith snorted.  “I make no promises.  And you were just as pissed about the particular bible passage they chose to quote in their decorations too.  The pride flags as scarves for the dads was your idea anyway.”

Lance grinned at Shiro.  “We’ll be good.”  He stopped and thought for a second.  “Well, as long as they don’t start it.”

Anger clouding his eyes for half a second, Shiro wrinkled his nose.  “If they start it, all bets are off.  We’re finishing it.”

Giggling, Lance squeezed Shiro’s hand.  “You’re the best.”

Yeah, Keith thought, he really kind of was.


	5. Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veteran Shiro is recently back from a tour in Afghanistan, broken in both body and mind. Putting himself back together and maintaining a relationship with both his lovers is a balancing act.
> 
> Warning: This one deals with PTSD symptoms and recovery. Shiro has and talks about having had dark thoughts.

The key to managing the particular emotion clawing it’s way through Shiro’s brain was balance, Shiro thought.  Looking at the way they tangled together, easily fitting their angles and planes together, noticing the way moonlight made Keith’s lashes look impossibly long shadowed against his pale skin, and it made Lance’s lips look even fuller and more shapely, it would have been easily to let himself be overwhelmed with gratitude.  In the bad way.

In the way he’d been early on after coming home.  The things one had to do to survive active combat situations were never pretty, surviving a POW situation less so, but Shiro had been forced to do quite a bit to survive and came home from Afghanistan with so much blood on his one remaining hand that he felt soaked to his very bones with it.  If he’d have been a better person he would have fought harder to push them away, to keep from tainting them the same way he’d been ruined.  Except he wasn’t strong enough.  He came home, no longer whole in body or mind, his actions leaving him poisoned and toxic to others and he was just so fucking  _ grateful  _ to have come home to them, so grateful that they still allowed him to touch them.  Instead of pushing them away, he drew them tighter to him, became manic with the need to prove he could provide some value to them, was obsessed with expressing his gratitude and repaying them.  He’d been so afraid that he needed to convince them to keep him.

That hadn’t been good, but the other end of the spectrum was worse.  That feeling only started to fade when the rest of them did.  The longer he was home, the more apathetic he became.  To protect itself from the guilt and the anger and the fear he couldn’t manage to turn off, Shiro’s brain took the nuclear option and shut  _ everything  _ down.  Somewhere in the middle of not caring about  _ anything  _ he forgot how lucky he was to have found the two of them at all and how blessed he was that they were still here with him despite how broken he’d returned to them.

Now, in the soft light of a waning moon, the remnants of his gore and horror-filled dream slipping like wisps of smoke from his brain, it was easy to feel the urge to chase one extreme or another.  Balance was what he needed.  He started the breathing exercises his therapist recommended, pulling in deep lungfuls of air through his nose and holding them for a count, then pushing them back out nice and slowly through his mouth.  With every inhale he reminded himself that he loved them, that they weren’t perfect, but they were perfect for him, and that he was lucky he got the chance to be part of their lives.  On the exhale he told himself that they weren’t just tolerating him, that they loved him and wanted him here, that he didn’t need to prove his worth to them because they already knew it.

He lost count of how many times he repeated the process.  He kept at it until his heart rate returned to a more normal speed, until his limbs weren’t trembling with the dump of adrenaline in his veins anymore, until every sound didn’t seem magnified and he stopped trying to plan exit routes for the three of them.

Some time later, Keith lifted his head off the pillow a few inches and blinked muzzily.  “Shiro,” he croaked, eyes flitting around the room until they found him perched on the window sill.

“Hey,” Shiro whispered back.  He wasn’t sure what else to say other than that.  He never did in these situations.

More awareness creeping into his expression, Keith frowned.  “Why are you up?”

Shiro sighed; this is exactly what he’d been hoping to avoid.  “Another nightmare, go back to bed.  I’ll be fine.”

Innate rebelliousness rearing its head, Keith sat up a little more, the sheet falling to his waist.  “No,” he answered, louder than he’d been previously.

The noise roused Lance somewhat and he grunted unhappily, his eyes popping open to narrow slits.  “Wha’s goin’ on?” he slurred, not quite fully awake.

Shiro resisted the urge to sigh again.  He knew how this was going to go; they were terrible about ganging up on him in everything.  For two guys who couldn’t stand each other in high school, they sure made a terrifyingly unified front now.

A pointed glare was launched in Shiro’s direction before Keith turned back to Lance.  “Shiro had another nightmare and is being difficult about coming back to bed and letting us take care of him.”

Lance huffed, more awake now, and rolled his head to look at Shiro.  “This again dude?  You’ve got two younger guys, who happen to be total studs, begging you to get in bed with them and you hesitate?  We’re gonna have to take your gay membership card back.”

Snorting out a quiet laugh, Shiro rolled his eyes.  But he also pushed himself away from the wall and moved toward the bed.  He didn’t really have any desire to fight them on this anyway.  Sandwiched between them and feeling their delicate puffs of breath and their pulse beneath their skin was where he pretty much always wanted to be.  He’d only hesitated because he didn’t want to wake them.  Now that they were both up though.  He settled between them and pulled Keith to his chest.

Lance shuffled in close at Shiro’s back with a happy sigh and a flutter of a kiss pressed to the back of his neck.

Keith wiggled and shifted until he was comfortable then settled with a kiss of his own to the skin over Shiro’s heart.  “Wanna talk about it?”

There was absolutely nothing Shiro wanted to do less while ensconced in the warmth and comfort their bodies provided.  He shook his head minutely.  “Not tonight.  Just this is good right now.”

Humming thoughtfully, Lance pressed another kiss to Shiro’s spine.  “Tomorrow then,” he muttered and then he was immediately back to sleep, soft snores ruffling the back of Shiro’s hair.

“I still don’t know how he does that,” Keith muttered.

Shiro shrugged as much as he could with them draped all over him.  

“Night Shiro.  Love you.”  Keith whispered.

Pressing a kiss to the crown of Keith’s head, Shiro echoed the words, breathing them into Keith’s soft hair.  He was lucky to be here in this bed with them.  He was lucky he’d come home.  He was lucky that they still saw the good in him beneath everything broken and ugly that he’d come home trapped under.  He was lucky he still had enough left to give them what they needed too.  Here in the quiet and peaceful darkness, with them bracketing him on both sides, he felt balanced again in a way breathing exercises never quite managed.


End file.
